Return to the BUILD
“Install the 2 x 1.5-volt AA battery box, which replaces the fuel tank in this model.”
Contents
Parts
- 91A – Battery Box
- 91B – Battery Box Lid
- 2x MM screws (+1 spare)
- 1x MP screws (+1 spare)
Materials: Everything non-electrical in this phase is plastic.
Magazine – Issue 24
- Assembly Guide: Model Instructions
- Track Legends: Aston Martin DB4, Tesla Model S
- The Story of Motorsports: Ground Effect, Jaguar 1922-2007, Dragster
- Ace Racers: Al Unser
- Challenging Circuits: Road America
Build
The Battery Box
Step 01
Fit two AA-size 1.5-volt batteries into the Battery Box with the negative (-) ends of the batteries against the springs, as shown.
We should also ensure that the main power switch is in the OFF (O) position here:
Fit the Battery Box Lid over the batteries, and secure it closed with one (1) MP screw.
Step 02
Retrieve your 300 SL assembly and carefully turn it upside down on a soft cloth. Connect the plug of the Battery Box to socket F of the Control Circuit Board.
Ensure this plug is correctly inserted – they have polarity and should not be installed backwards:
Tuck the wires of the Battery Box underneath it, then secure the Battery Box to these two tabs at the rear of the Main Chassis with two (2) MM screws, as shown.
This is your friendly reminder to try using 3-in-One Oil on all screws going into metal:
Step 03
Slide the main power switch on the Battery Box to the ON (I) position. Then, carefully turn the model over onto its wheels. Open either gullwing door and the Interior LED should come on.
On my model, the left door does not push down on the Door Switch enough, so this light is always on. I do not want to keep bending the door to make this work, so I will just leave it be for now:
Press the On-Off Switch to the left of the Steering Wheel and the Headlights and Rear Lights should come on.
On my model, this switch was faulty and pressing it had no effect. I had to remove the Battery Box and short the pins of Socket E on the Control Circuit Board to trigger the lights:
The Rear Lights light up with the dashboard switch, but pressing down on the Brake Pedal should make them brighter:
When you have completed the lighting tests, press the On-Off Switch again to turn off the lights. Then, slide the main power switch on the Battery Box to the OFF (O) position.
NOTE: When storing the model for a long period of time, it is recommended to remove the batteries.
Thoughts
While all of my lights work, the dashboard switch to turn them on/off is faulty. I am not that upset as once my finished models go on display, I remove the batteries and will likely never turn the lights on again. Still, we should have been able to test these electronics much earlier in the build. If you do encounter any issues with the lighting, make sure you have fresh batteries, all plug connections are secure and correctly plugged in, and that no wires are pinched, damaged, or broken. I did all this and narrowed it down to the bad switch, which is too internal to fix.
Next Up
Phase 92 – Body: Left Sill Rocker Panel/Trim
I’m at this stage now and I have the same issue. No matter how hard I screw down the switch, or tighten the inner door panels down, the switch won’t shut off the light when the door is down. I too had to bend the doors countless times to get them to fit correctly…………..especially the driver’s side door.
Like you, once this is done, it’ll go inside its case and only brought out VERY few times. I’ll probably leave the batteries out as I’ll forget they’re in there and then have a nasty battery leak down the road.
On my kit, the rear fender “eyebrows” were among the missing as I ended up buying this kit off a seller in France. I ended up scratchbuilding those and came nearly exact to the shape that was to be on the kit. Color match is a bit of an issue as silver is one of those colors that’s very hard to match unless you paint the entire car at once. I’m not gonna go through that as I’ve already had a tough time with this kit as it was.
Eaglemoss I’ve pretty much given up on as they never followed through with sending parts on time, yet they seem to have no trouble sending out figurines and whatnot. I’ll likely never buy from them again as I don’t like getting burnt on what turned out to be a partial kit.
I can use the parts I have left over as a display of sorts since I’ll have an extra rolling chassis with engine. Kinda neat as everything gets hidden by that chassis tray underneath. 😉